Learn about the characteristics of the Savanna biome with this overview featuring animals and plants found in the Savanna. Although the site is fairly simple, it includes some little-known facts about this biome.

In the Classroom

Share information from this site on your interactive whiteboard as an introduction to the Savanna biome. Ask students to use the tools on your whiteboard to highlight important information, then save your work on your computer to share on your class website. Ask students to participate in an online bulletin board, such as Lino, reviewed here, to reflect on what they are learning and collect information and images about the Savanna biome. Challenge students to create an annotated image sharing information about the Savanna or animals found on the Savanna including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here. Have students work in groups to create a virtual field trip to Savannas around the world using Google Earth, reviewed here.

Although very simple, this site provides a starting point for learning about the Savanna biome. Choose from four categories to learn about climate, vegetation, animals, and health issues found within the Savanna.

In the Classroom

Consider this site for use as a quick introduction to the Savanna on your interactive whiteboard (you may want to point out the misspelling of Savanna throughout the site!). Add this site as a resource to your biomes unit for student use by creating a Symbaloo Webmix (web-based screens of linked "tiles"), reviewed here, including links to other websites about biomes. Replace paper and pen writing journals by having students create a blog describing their learning and understanding of features of the Savanna using Loose Leaves, reviewed here. This blog creator requires no registration. Instead of assigning a research project about Biomes, ask students to modify their learning and create a virtual field trip to visit biomes around the world using Google Earth, reviewed here.

Cabinet of Curiosities is a site created by the grandson of famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau to introduce STEM careers to young people. Links within the cabinet take users to eight different categories including short video explanations by professionals within the field. Click on any image within the cabinet to view a short description of an item used for a STEM career and one or more videos. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as ClipGrab, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Bookmark and save to use when exploring career options with students. Ask students to use information found on this site and others to create an infographic sharing information about a chosen career. Canva, reviewed here, offers many templates for creating infographics. To increase student knowledge of options within STEM careers, have groups of students create a weekly podcast sharing different career fields. Buzzsprout, reviewed here, is an online tool to use when creating and hosting podcasts.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from February 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Making a learning environment accessible for everyone is critical to a successful inclusive classroom. Today's classrooms are diverse and include English Language Learners and students with learning challenges, whether they have been identified or not. Every teacher needs to be able to create and deliver content in a way that is accessible to each student. Fortunately, teachers already have free technologies at their disposal to assist with this. Join us as we explore strategies and tools that facilitate an inclusive learning environment. Participants will: 1. Understand the importance of accessibility; 2. Explore Microsoft tools that can be used to create accessible materials; and 3. Identify an easy new habit, hack, and/or tool they can adopt to help make the material accessible for their students. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from January 2018, opens in Adobe Connect. Inspire technology integrated lessons for student learning based on web-based resources. Learn about the features and benefits of your free TeachersFirst membership. This session will briefly share how to find and use resources on TeachersFirst to help you save time. Remember, it is OK2Ask questions at any time! Participants will: 1. Explore TeachersFirst membership features; 2. Identify and share resources to support classroom instruction; and 3. Prepare to use the features of TeachersFirst membership to maximize student learning. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

The Time Now provides accurate synchronized time information from anywhere in the world. Add multiple locations to compare current local time. This site also features several tools including currency converters and travel information. This site meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG) standards by providing tools making content useful to all users including those with disabilities including sight impairments.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Bookmark (or save in your favorites) The Time Now on your classroom computers for students to use throughout the year. Find out the local time and temperature in countries as you study them and compare their local time to yours. Include time/date conversions for online conferences you will hold with parents who are deployed or traveling in different time zones. Share meeting dates/times for Skype sessions using the time conversions, so everyone is "on time." Find a partner classroom located in a different time zone and use The Time Now to compare local times throughout the day. Then create a collaborative class book with your partner class to contrast and compare what is happening in one area of the world compared to your partner. Use a tool like Book Creator, reviewed here, to create collaborative books including images, videos, and audio recordings.

Find links to several lesson plans teaching the concepts related to the tundra and ecosystems, aligned to standards, for grades K-8. The site includes four categories Tundra Animals and Plants, the Tundra Biome, Permafrost, and Predator/Prey and Food Webs. Also included is literacy integration through a virtual bookshelf.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Include this site with your other materials for teaching biomes, specifically the tundra. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from these lessons using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here, or Word Clouds for Kids, reviewed here. Create a class wiki for your biome unit and divide resources by types of biomes. Not comfortable with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through.

Explore and learn about biomes through this interactive resource from the biologists at Arizona State University. Choose a particular biome to read and listen to information describing the definition and characteristics of the biome. The show/hide words portion of each section provides definitions of vocabulary included in each part of the site. Other information on the site includes worksheets and coloring pages to print.

In the Classroom

Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts describing each different biome using the scientist's audio from the site as a model. Use a site such as Podcast Generator, reviewed here. Have students use a mapping tool such as Zeemaps, reviewed here, to create a map of biomes from around the world (or country) with audio stories and pictures included!

Timeline Eons presents the history of the world from the Big Bang through current time on an interactive timeline. Additional events predict changes to the earth 22,000,000,000 years in the future. Scroll left or right to move through developments on the timeline or set the timeline to run automatically. Zoom in to view events or use the search feature to find specific events. Many events feature an illustration or photograph; others include a short video. When viewing on a computer, choose the link with three dots on the upper-left side of the screen to see information on the timeline's features.

In the Classroom

Have students explore the timeline on their own, then research and share information on any given period of time. Encourage students to view future predictions on the timeline as a research project to find the basis of the predictions. Have students create a simple interactive infographic sharing their findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here .

Miles of Ice Collapsing Into the Sea is a three part dispatch from a reporting trip to Antartica. Complete with images, text, and video, this site tells the story of scientists researching the collapse of vulnerable portions of the Antartic ice sheet. Scroll through the page to learn about the mission and research taking place.

In the Classroom

Include this interactive with any lessons on climate change, oceans, or weather. Be sure to help your weaker readers and ESL students by sharing the vocabulary words prior to reading, either on a handout or by projecting on an interactive whiteboard and highlighting them in the text as you come to them. Share the locations using Google Earth, reviewed here, and have students research other locations experiencing the effects of climate change.

Take a guided tour of the six big questions related to climate change on this interactive wheel. Begin with "What does global climate change mean?" and work your way to the final question, "What else do we need to find out?". Each issue explores smaller questions through text, images, and video explanations.

In the Classroom

Use the Big Questions wheel to guide and direct lessons on climate change. Share each question on your interactive whiteboard to introduce content and spark student conversation. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Word Cloud for Kids, reviewed here, or WordItOut, reviewed here. Upon completion of your climate change unit, challenge students to create online comic strips sharing what they learned about climate change using a site such as Write Comics, reviewed here.

See how the earth is changing by going backward and forward in the Climate Kids Time Machine. Choose a topic to begin from sea ice, sea level, carbon emissions, or average global temperature. Drag the slider on each timeline to view representations of change over the span of time.

In the Classroom

Share these timelines on your interactive whiteboard as an introduction to your unit on weather and climate change. Include a link to the site on your class webpage and classroom computers for students to explore on their own. Have students research causes for climate change, then make a multimedia presentation using Powtoon, reviewed here, or Sway, reviewed here.

Anyplace America provides an extensive resource of free topographical maps of the United States. Choose maps by water, land or man-made features, or browse maps featuring each state. Maps include local information including nearby points of interest, weather statistics, and photographs. Most also include a link to download a color PDF of the featured map. Google and the U.S. Geological Survey provide the maps used on this site.

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site to use when teaching about landforms, bodies of waters, or geographic features. Be sure to create a link on classroom computers or your class website for students to access at any time. Have students use a mapping tool such as Click2Map, reviewed here, to create a map of local landforms with audio stories and pictures included.

This short YouTube video describes a proposal to reconsider how earth's biomes are mapped taking into consideration the effect of humans and urban populations. The discussions reflect upon the changing environment due to changes over extended periods of time. Also, the video points out some criticisms in this plan indicating that it may diminish the importance of environmental awareness and protections. If your district blocks YouTube, the video may not be viewable. You could always view the video at home and bring it to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as Freemake Video Converter, reviewed here, to download the video from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Share this video as part of your unit on biomes, conservation, or world populations. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast the proposal to current definitions of biomes. Then have students debate the pros and cons of the proposal outlined in the video using a tool such as Socratic Smackdown, reviewed here.

Learn about six of the world's biomes then build a biome with this interactive activity. Use clues from the notebook and fact panel to choose the correct items to place in your biome. When finished, earn postcards for each biome built.

In the Classroom

Share a link to this site on classroom computers and your class website for students to play during your unit on biomes. Have cooperative groups choose a biome to explore further and create podcasts sharing features of their biome. Use a site such as Buzzsprout, reviewed here. Have students use a mapping tool such as Zeemaps, reviewed here, to create a map identifying locations of different biomes around the world.

This short, but informative, site shares information about the grasslands biomes. Learn about the differences between savannah and temperate grasslands. Explanations include detailed information on locations, climate, and vegetation found in each biome.

In the Classroom

Include this site with other resources when teaching lessons about biomes. The text portions may be challenging, so you should pair weaker readers with a partner as they research on this site. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their knowledge about grassland biomes using Visme, reviewed here.

Explore the grasslands biome in-depth with this article from Encylopedia Brittanica. Read through to learn about the origins of grasslands, the type of environment necessary to maintain a grassland, and common uses such as grazing and agricultural production. Be sure not to miss links near the top of the page to View All Media, and to Print, Cite, and Share the article.

In the Classroom

Before exploring the site as a class, download images of grasslands and have students identify the biome and its properties. The text portions may be challenging, so you should pair weaker readers with a partner as they research on this site. Include this site as a resource for your biome unit by sharing a link on your class website. Upon completion of your biome unit, have students make an infographic showing what they learned using Visme, reviewed here.

Find a guide to understanding our planet through the ways human impact has changed ecological patterns and processes. Choose from the six biomes for a broad overview of information, then dig deeper by selecting one of the subtopics within a biome to view facts as related to climate, population, and land use.

In the Classroom

Include this site with your class resources when teaching about biomes and ecology. Have students create online posters individually or together as a class to display human impact on your local environment using a tool such as Adobe Spark for Education, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts sharing ideas on how to reduce the impact of humans on our environment. Use a site such as Buzzsprout, reviewed here.

Learn about biomes around the world through interactive maps, charts, and images at this site provided for Marietta College environmental biology and ecology students. Begin with the interactive map to click on a highlighted area to visit a world biome. Information about each biome includes climate, world distribution, plant and animal species, and additional ecological notes. Scroll through the home page to find in-depth comparisons of the climate and biomes of Marietta College and Costa Rica.

In the Classroom

Include information from this site on your class wiki on biomes and environment. Not comfortable with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through. Have students create a simple infographic sharing information on your local biome using Visme, reviewed here. Include a link to the site on classroom computers and your class webpage for students to review throughout your biome unit.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional learning session from November 2017, opens in Adobe Connect. Transform your classroom activities by learning how to use Sutori. Engage students and deepen content area knowledge through digital stories. Text, audio, video, discussion forums, and quiz questions bring additional context to content area instruction for your students. Use student-created visual stories and timelines as formative assessment. Brainstorm with others how you and your students can use Sutori in your classroom. Participants will: 1. Learn basic use of Sutori; 2. Explore three different ways to use Sutori in the classroom; and 3. Plan for the use of Sutori in the classroom. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.